30 kisses, thirty Stories: Gaahina
by SarcasticShiloh
Summary: A GaaraHinata I wrote for the 30 kisses challenge. Gaara wants to know why Hinata wants to be his friend when they are so different, but he finds out, maybe they aren't so different after all. Now will be where I post all my Gaahina 30 kisses stories.
1. Good Night 24

Subject line

Title Naruto; Sabaku no Gaara/Hyuga Hinata; 24. good night 

Title: We Are the Same  
Author: Shilohm  
Pairing: Sabaku no Gaara/Hyuga Hinata  
Fandom: Naruto  
Theme: 24. good night  
Disclaimer: I have not, do not, nor will ever, own the great anime/manga Naruto. Some one in japan owns it, and anyone else who has the rights. So, no copyright infringement, okay?

Rating: PG

The Konoha sun slowly began to set on the training grounds, and on the figure of one Hyuga Hinata. Hyuga Hinata fascinated one Sabaku no Gaara, and as one does with something that fascinates them, he watched her. He hid in a tree off to the side of the training grounds, watching as she hit a post.

Now, one must ask why Gaara was fascinated with the Hyuga heir. To answer this is simple. She offered her hand to him. No, no, no, not marriage, but friendship. She was the second person to offer him friendship. Naruto he could understand, as they were very much alike. This girl though... this weak, naive, stuttering girl, they were as different as night and day, the sun and the moon, the earth and the sky. So, why? He had to find out.

"Ha!" Hinata shouted as she hit the post again, her hair moving slightly with the movement. The setting sun's light caused the blue in her hair to stand out. Gaara decided blue was a nice color. "Ha!" she hit the post again.

'_She is weak,_' Gaara thought as he watched her train, '_I could kill her as easily as an ant._'

He could feel the sand shift at this thought, _'But why would she, so powerless, dare even to come near me, a monster, let alone offer friendship?'_ Gaara was confused, and that wasn't a good mood for him.

Gaara glared at Hinata, blaming her for his confusion. Blaiming her and her colorless eyes, short, blue hair, and weak attacks. After a minute, he'd finally had enough. He jumped down silently from his perch, and walked towards her, stopping a few yards away.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" she shouted again. He could see her hands were beginning to bruise. He moved his gaze to the back of her head.

"Hyuga."

She spun around quickly with a gasp, eyes wide. When she realized it was Gaara, she did something that surprised him. She smiled.

"G-Gaara-san," she said softly, hands going under her chin, "W-what are you d-doing h-here?"

He stared at her for a second, eyes narrowed. Why did she smile? Why didn't she run? She should be afraid!

"Why?" he said, watching every move she made, "Why don't you run?"

She blinked at him and tilted her head to the side, "W-why sh-should I run, Gaara-san?"

She was too naive. Even after she'd seen him kill, she stayed where she was. He walked towards her as he said, "You should be afraid of me, scream and run away. Why don't you?"

Hinata's cheeks turned pink as she looked at the ground, "W-well... um, I-I don't th-think that you w-would h-hurt m-m-me. Y-you've cha-changed, Gaara-san, s-since the chunin ex-exams..."

Gaara stared blankly at her. How could she know this? He could kill her where she stood... but there was something he had to know first, "Why did you offer me your friendship?"

"W-well...y-you're a lot like N-Naruto-kun," she said, looking at him again, "H-he was alone, too. O-only he f-found s-someone to... believe in h-him, you didn't. W-when... you helped Lee-kun... it proved t-to me that you ch-changed. I-I wanted you to kn-know, that I be-believe in you...and I want you as my f-friend..." she looked down again, face red.

Gaara was surprised. Not that he showed it, but he was. Why, would someone believe in him? It was a concept he had trouble understanding. He took a few more steps toward her, now just a few feet away, "Why would you want me as a friend, Hyuga?"

Hinata glanced at him for a second before looking at the sunset, "I... I was alone too, Gaara-san. Not-not the same w-way you and Naruto-kun were, but I-I felt alone. My f-father... he is d-disappointed in m-me, so he ignores m-me unless it's to tell me I'm w-worthless. Until I-I was a-assigned to my t-team, no one noticed me. I felt like I h-had no one. I d-don't like that feeling, and I don't th-think anyone should feel that way. I don't think you should f-feel that way..."

He couldn't move. No one had ever bothered to think about how he felt, most assumed he didn't feel at all. How could someone, almost the exact opposite of himself, care at all...

Hinata turned her head to look at him and smiled. She reached out her hand to him, "C-come look."

Gaara hesitated for a minute before taking her hand. She pulled him over to stand next to her. With her other hand, she motioned to the sun, "Sunset is my f-favorite time of the day. Everything b-blends together. The n-night and day, the sun and m-moon, the earth and sky, all b-boundaries disappear, and they are the same. There... there is no difference."

He looked at the sunset. It was true. A faint crescent moon could be seen just above the half sun, and stars were starting to sprinkle the sky. The brilliant colors surrounding the sun seemed to blur the tree line, mixing green, pink, red, yellow, orange, purple, blue... so many colors, slowly darkening.

Something struck Gaara then. They were the same, him and Hinata, different and the same, all at the same time.

"Thank you... Hyuga," he muttered, feeling weird for saying it.

Hinata smiled shyly, "Y-you're welcome, Gaara-san, and you can call me H-Hinata, i-if you want..." she suddenly got a slightly panicked look on her face, "Oh no! I have to be home before dark! I'm sorry Gaara-san, I have to go!" she ran a few steps forward before stopping and retracing her steps back to Gaara's side, her face was bright red now, "G-Good night, Gaara-kun," she whisper as she leaned over, giving him a quick kiss.

Gaara, again, couldn't move, he tried. He tried blinking, he tried speaking, he even tried moving his sand! He, to put it simply, was in shock. Hinata took advantage of his shock and ran off, heading home.

Gaara finally managed to say, "Good night, Hinata-chan..."

Maybe, they could friends... and,maybe, one day, more.


	2. Say Ahh 18

Subject line

Title Naruto; Sabaku no Gaara/Hyuga Hinata; 18. "say ahh..." 

Title: "Say Ahh..."  
Author: Shilohm  
Pairing: Sabaku no Gaara/Hyuga Hinata  
Fandom: Naruto  
Theme: 18. "say ahh..."  
Disclaimer: I have not, do not, nor will ever, own the great anime/manga Naruto. Some one in japan owns it, and anyone else who has the rights. So, no copyright infringement, okay?

Rating: PG

Gaara was sitting in an arm chair in his siblings' and his temporary Konoha home, miserable. He was cold, sweating, he couldn't breathe, his stomach was flipping, and he was tired. This... had never happen before. He was also frustrated because he couldn't move much.

"Gaara! I'm... back?" Temari's voice trailed off as she came across a shivering Gaara. He was flopped on the arm chair, head to the side, staring at the wall, a blanket over his shoulders, face sweaty and red, eyes half lidded, and teeth chattering.

He slowly turned his stare from the wall to Temari, glaring pitifully, "'Ow... d-da 'ell d-did I get p...poisoned?"

Temari's lips switched as she answered, "I don't think you've been poisoned, Gaara, I think you're sick."

"S-sick? You mean like... you and Ka'kuro get?"

Temari nodded as she came over to him, "Yeah, like that. Can I check your temperature?"

Gaara watch her wearily, not that he could really do anything, he couldn't move! "What... would dat in title?"

"Just me putting my hand on your head."

He nodded slowly, not really feeling like refusing. Temari slowly touch his forehead, estimating his temperature to be about 101. _'He really needs to go to a doctor... we didn't bring any medicine...'_

"Hey Gaara," Gaara's eyes looked up at her and she noticed he looked a little out of it, "We're going to go on a trip, okay? We're going to someone who can make you feel better."

Gaara blinked slowly, the urge to close his eyes over welling. Even though he couldn't sleep, even in this state, his eyes wanted to close. "Gaara?" His eyes opened again and he remembered she said something about going to see someone that would make him feel better. He nodded his head slightly.

"Okay," Temari grabbed one of his arms and pulled him up, putting his arm over her shoulders, "Come on, Gaara, can you walk?" she got her answer as he shakily stood, before tilting and almost falling, "Guess not."

Slowly, they made their way to the door and opened it, almost running into Kankuro in the process.

"Huh? Temari, what's up with Gaara?" he said getting on Gaara's over side and supporting some of his weight.

"I found him on in a chair. He's got a high fever. Help me get him to the hospital."

It took them 15 minutes to get to the hospital, where they signed in and sat in the waiting room.

Temari sat Gaara on a chair and sat on one side of him while Kankuro sat on the other. The cool night air seemed to knock some awareness into Gaara as he managed to keep his eyes open and his mind semi clear. The three watched as people came and left for about 20 minutes before a nurse came over to them. Temari and Kankuro picked Gaara up and follow her into a room.

"Set him down there," the nurse said, motioning to the bed. Temari and Kankuro did as told and helped their brother lie down. The nurse got a thermometer and shook it for a moment before coming over to Gaara, "Say ah," she said and waited.

Now, Gaara wasn't one, even when sick, to comply with a stupid request like that, so he kept his mouth shut and stared at her. "Saaaay... Ahhhhhh," she tried again, thinking he was too out of it to understand.

Gaara blinked. And then rolled over to stare at a wall. The nurse huffed and walked around the bed, "Say, ah."

He, once again, just stared at her. She waved the thermometer around his mouth for a minute.

Temari was about to start laughing, "Um...I checked his temperature earlier and it was about 101."

"We need an accurate temperature for his medical file." the nurse said as she tried to stick the device into Gaara's mouth, but he moved his head away.

The nurse finally gave a loud sigh, "Just a minute," she walked out of the room.

"Gaara, why must you be so mean? She's just trying to help," Temari said as she laughed.

"I... will not s-say a stupid thing like that," he said with a glare at the door.

Meanwhile, Hinata was leaning against the counter as a flustered nurse stomped over, "Hinata, there's a difficult patient in room 3, could you take his temp. for me? Really, if you could just take over for me, I'd fill in for you any day."

Hinata laughed softly at her friend, "S-sure, Katie. The chart's on the door?"

Katie nodded with a smile, "Thank you so much!" and she ran off to her next patient.

Hinata waved before she turned to head to room 3. She grabbed the chart, knocked, and opened the door, "H-hello," she said as she walked in, looking at the chart. _Sabaku no Gaara_. Oh... Gaara...

She looked up to see the red head lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His siblings were looking over at her. "H-hello," she repeated, "I-I don't know if you re-remember me, but I'm Hinta Hyuga. I'll be your n-nurse."

Not many knew, but Hinata had gotten over her crush on Naruto the year before when he asked Sakura out and she finally accepted that he loved Sakura. She had developed a small crush on Gaara when she had accidentally heard him talking to Tsunade-Sama the year before. He had been talking about Suna, and how he was going to prove to the people that he would be a great Kazekage and restore the village to it's former glory. She had thought it was noble that after all Suna had put him through, he still wanted to help them.

Temari and Kankuro glanced at each other, they remembered her. The weak, but persistent girl who lost to her cousin in the chuunin exams. "Temari." said Temari introducing herself.

"Kankuro," said the puppeteer.

Hinata nodded and then looked back at the chart, "O-okay... I need to take his temperature," she walked to a drawer and retrieved a thermometer, then shook it the same way Katie had. She walked over to Gaara.

"G-Gaara, I have to take your temperature, o-okay? S-so, if you would, open your mouth, please..."

Gaara's eyes moved from the ceiling to Hinata. He remembered her... uhhh... he just couldn't remember from where in his current state... It took him a moment to remember what she said. Temperature? Temari took his temperature... but, why did she have that thing? "What is that?"

Hinata blinked, "W-what's what?" Then she remember the thermometer, "Oh! T-this? It's a th-thermometer. It's to figure out h-how high your temperature is."

Gaara looked at the thermometer for a second. How would THAT figure anything out, let alone his temperature? He rolled over.

Hinata blinked again. Katie was right, he was difficult. "C-come on, Gaara, you w-want to get better, r-right?"

All she got was a grunt. Now, Hinata was a patient person, and stubborn when she wanted to be. She would wait him out.

"G-Gaara, come on," she continued prodding, standing behind him, "It'll t-take five minutes, th-that's all."

There was no movement from Gaara. Temari had her arms crossed, a smirk on her face, and Kankuro was messing with his puppet.

Then, Hinata got an idea. She walked to the other side of the bed and bent down. Gaara's eyes moved to look at her. Her face was at the edge of the bed, about ten inches from his. "Say, ah," she demanded, holding the thermometer right by his mouth. He blinked, then tried to roll over again, but Hinata was ready. She grabbed his shoulder, firmly held it to the bed and leaned over, looking him right in the eye, "Now, G-Gaara, we can do this the... the easy way, or the hard way. It either goes in th-this end, or the other. Take your pick."

Kankuro seemed to find this terribly funny, and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. It really was a funny sight. Hinata was leaning over Gaara, holding his shoulder down, the thermometer held in front of his mouth. Hinata had a rarely seen stern face, and Gaara actually looked shocked, and a little scared.

Gaara didn't move for a minute, just staring wide eyed back at the almost-glare Hinata was giving him. He knew what she meant when she said "the other end". He opened his mouth.

Hinata quickly stuck the thermometer into his mouth, and then smiled, "Th-thank you, it'll only take a f-few minutes, and during that t-time, we can get th-the other stuff taken care of."

Gaara tried to glare at her as she pulled him into a sitting position. How dare she! He was Sabaku no Gaara! The feared! The hated! The... uhhhg...

Gaara flopped back on his back, he wasn't feeling very good.

Hinata looked at Gaara lying on the bed, he didn't seem to be trying to be difficult anymore. If she dared, she would say he had given up, "You're n-not feeling so hot, are y-you?" she asked. All she got was a sarcastic and mumbled, "No, I'm a' 'ap'y a' ca' be, yip'y ya'..."

She smiled and continued with the exam. She checked his blood pressure, had him follow her finger with his eyes, checked his ears, and then she check the thermometer. She pulled it out of his mouth and held it to the light, "Hm... 100.7... You n-need some fe-fever reducer... O-okay, Gaara, I need y-you to open your mouth once m-more, I need t-to check your throat."

Gaara seemed to debate with himself for a moment, before seeming to decide to put up one more fight. He kept his mouth shut and stared at her. Now, Hinata had been hoping he would cooperate, so she had to think a moment to decide what to do. ...Hm. Well, it works on dogs, so why not people? She opened a drawer, got a toung presser, sat on the bed beside him and looked him right in the eye, "G-Gaara, if you d-don't open your mouth, I w-will make you."

Gaara stared at her for a minute before giving a small smirk and looking away, ignoring her. Hinata frowned, if it was a challenge he wanted, a challenge he'd get. She had delt with difficult children before. She reached over and took his jaw in her hand, ignoring the flinch he gave at the sudden contacted, "If y-you don't open your m-mouth, I w-will."

She felt him clench his teeth, and he was narrowing his eyes at her. "You a-asked for it."

She moved her fingers on his jaw some and squeezed, trying to push his teeth apart and open his mouth. After a minute of fighting with him, she finally got his mouth open. Quickly she stuck the flat stick in his mouth. Hinata let out a triumphant breath out, grinning. "Y-you're worse than th-the five-year-olds, Gaara. Now open your mouth wide."

He looked her in the eye for a minute, trying to stare her down. Her hand was still on his jaw, though she wasn't applying pressure anymore. Her hand was soft and he didn't really mind her touching his face. He blinked. Where had THAT come from?! Gaara was so busy wondering about that thought, that he didn't notice Hinata push the stick down, thus opening his mouth.

Hinata smiled to her self as his mouth opened, she grabbed a miniature flashlight she had around her neck and shined it into his mouth for a moment. Then she removed the stick and wrote something down on her clip board. When she turned back around, it was to a very interesting sight. Temari had turned her back to Gaara, shoulders shaking in repressed laughter, Kankuro was snickering behind his hand, and Gaara was in the same position she left him in, mouth open.

"Y-you'll catch flies th-that way..." she said as she closed his mouth for him. He looked up at her for a minute before jerking away, backing up on the bed so he was sitting with his back against the wall, staring at her. Hinata stared back at him. "Y-You're almost done, Gaara. We-we've just got to g-get your weight and height, and then y-you're done. C-come on," she moved closer to him and motioned for him to get up.

Gaara stared at her. He must be delusional... that was it. He'd heard a long time ago that being sick can cause you to act strangely. So, it must be this sickness that had made him think that. He slowly turned and got off the bed. He had to steady himself for a moment.

Hinata took his arm and lead him over to the scale. "O-kay, just step u-up here."

Gaara looked at the scale for a second before stepping on it. Now, he just wanted to hurry and get away from this Hinata... she was freaking him out.

Hinata wrote the height and weight down and then took his arm and lead him back to the bed. When he was lying on the bed again, since he didn't want to just sit on it, she said, "Th-thank you, Gaara. It w-wasn't that hard, now w-was it?" she decided to be bold for a minute and leaned down to kiss his forehead, right next to his love tattoo. Gaara's eyes went wide staring at her as she pulled away. Hinata smiled as she walked out the door, saying, "Th-the doctor will be with you shortly."

Kankuro and Temari couldn't take it anymore and they started laughing. "I-I think she-she likes you, G-Gaara!" Temari laughed.

Gaara was staring at the door. He hadn't imagine that... His head flopped back on the bed, he was too sick to deal with this right now...


	3. The space between dream and reality 6

Title:  
Author: Shilohm  
Pairing: Sabaku no Gaara/Hyuga Hinata  
Fandom: Naruto  
Theme: 6. the space between dream and reality  
Disclaimer: I have not, do not, nor will ever, own the great anime/manga Naruto. Some one in japan owns it, and anyone else who has the rights. So, no copyright infringement, okay?

Rating: PG

Gaara was walking through the Konoha forest, bored. His meeting with the Hokage was over for the day, Temari was with that Shikamaru fellow, and Kankuro was chatting up Tsunade's assistent. He had nothing to do for the rest of the day, so he decided to walk around the forest. As he walked, his thoughts drifted to the last time he was in Konoha, which was about a month ago. Hinata... She had said to call her that. She had kissed him. Him. Sabaku no Gaara.

He came to a stop suddenly as he heard something a head of him. It sounded like a dull roar... Maybe a waterfall? He pushed some branches out of his way. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the person of his thoughts. Hinata...

She was in a dark blue, one piece swim-suit, spinning around under the waterfall, laughing. Gaara couldn't help but stare... water falling around her, her face lit up with a grin... he felt something in his chest... different than the pain from his childhood, it... made it a little hard to breathe, but it wasn't unpleasent.

Ever since Hinata had kissed him, he had been thinking about her. At night, especially. Since he couldn't sleep, he had alot of time on his hands, and his thoughts kept drifting to the dark haired girl who was twirling under the waterfall. Why did she kiss him? Why did his chest ache when he thought of her, or now as he watched her?

Hinata finally stopped spinning. She swayed slightly, dizzy, before moving to the side of the falls. She shivered slightly as the wind blew past her, but she was smiling. She closed her eyes and turned her face into the breeze, seeming to enjoy it greatly.

Gaara found himself taking a step out from the bushes, but then moving back into them when Hinata began walking on the bank, towards him. She was a few yards away when she stopped, reaching down and grabbing a towel, She wiped her face off and spread out her towel on the ground, sitting on it. She tilted her head up to the sky, eyes closed again, a small smile on her face. Suddenly, her face went pink, and she let her head drop a little, hiding her face from his view. He wondered why she blushed. He slowly and quietly began to walk towards her, eyes tranfixed on her. She didn't notice him.

When he was just a few feet away, a strong breeze blew past and Hinata shivered slightly as she brought her shoulders up and ducked her head to try and block the cool wind. He took another silent step towards her before stopping beside her, looking down at her. When she raised her head back up, she let out a gasp and jerked back, eyes wide. With the sun behind him, it took her a moment to realize it was Gaara, but when she did, her face went red and she looked down with small smile, "G-Gaara-kun... Y-you scared me."

Gaara kelt down on his knees beside her, watching every move she made. Shukaku wanted him to touch her, and he had to admit, he wanted to as well. But he wouldn't... "That was not my intention." he said evenly.

Hinata glanced up at him, still blushing, and began playing with her fingers, "Um... How h-have you been, G-Gaara-kun?" she said softly.

It took him a moment to answer, "I have been... confused," he said honestly, looking up to the sky.

"Wh-why is that?" Hinata put her towel around her shoulders as she settled herself on the grass bside him. When she looked back at his face, she found him watching her. Her face turned pink again, "U-um... Why have you been... con-confused, Gaara-kun?"

Gaara stared at her for another moment. Why did she plague his thoughts? Such a simple, weak girl. Inferior in strength, she wasn't worth fighting... and yet... she had some kind of hold on him. He narrowed his eyes and turned away from her, looking towards the water fall. This was going to take some thought...

The two sat in silence for some time before Gaara finally said something. "Why do you come here, Hyuga?"

Hinata blinked, surprised at the sudden question. "We-well... It's quiet h-here. And I... don't have to worry a-about anything... It's beautiful, as-as well."

The red head nodded. Silence desended on them once more. Hinata fiddled with her fingers for a few minutes before deciding to just watch the beautiful scenery around them. If Gaara wanted to talk, he would.

A few hours passed like this, both in a peacful silence. The sun was starting to set... Just like the last time they were together... The setting sun could just barly be seen through the forest trees surrounding the small clearing and waterfall. The faint light sparkled off the drops of water tossed about on their way to the bottom of the falls. Fireflies were beginning to appear. Suddenly, Gaara felt a weight against his side. He looked to his left to see what it was. '_Hinata..._' The dark haired girl had fallen asleep on him! He felt his face get warm as he moved an arm to adjust her weight, so they were both comfortable. Hinata was now leaning into him, head on his shoulder. He breathed in slowly, Shukaku had gotten what he wanted... and, he admited to himself, what he wanted. He turned his head so he could see Hinata's sleeping face. Her pale eyes were closed, her mouth open slightly. Her hair was starting to get long... Why did he care? So confusing... these feelings...

Without his permission, his hand came up and made as if to touch her face. Gaara narrowed his eyes, what was he doing? He started to pull back, but found he couldn't. Slowly, he gave into his desire and his hand hesitantly made contact with Hinata's pale skin. He found himself transfixed...

_'So soft..'_

His gaze was drawn to her lips. She had kissed him, last time... Would she mind if he...? He felt himself leaning towards her, saw her face getting closer to his. What _was_ he doing?

'_**Oh, stop thinking for once! It's annoying. Kiss her, already!**_' Shukaku's voice sounded in his head. And for once, Gaara decided to listen to him and leaned in that last inch.

Her lips were softer than her skin... She'd kissed him so quickly and abruptly last time that he hadn't been able to think about anything. He was about to pull away when he felt her lips move against his slightly, shyly... He pulled back, feeling his face getting very warm. When he looked up at Hinata's face, he saw her eyes were open and her face was bright red. He coughed as he looked at the waterfall, not sure what to do or say.

Hinata did as Gaara, and watched the waterfall as well. They were both quiet for a while, Gaara's arm still around Hinata, and Hinata slightly leaning against him.

And there they stayed for a while longer, watching the water fall onto the rocks below, tossing droplets of water diamonds up into the surrounding air. As the moon came out, the thought that struck Gaara was that this place was magical... like a space between dream... and reality.

* * *

a/n:Sorry took so long, I got myself a boyfriend annnnd... kinda lost interest for a while. many apologies! 


	4. Excessive chain 13

**Naruto; Sabaku no Gaara/Hyuga Hinata; 13. excessive chain**

**Title: Locks and Chains**

**Author: Shilohm**

**Pairing: Sabaku no Gaara/Hyuga Hinata**

**Fandom: Naruto**

**Theme: 13. excessive chain**

**Disclaimer: I have not, do not, nor will ever, own the great anime/manga Naruto. Some one in japan owns it, and anyone else who has the rights. So, no copyright infringement, okay? Already had a bad experience with that TT**

**Rating: PG-13**

-

**lalala**

-

Why? Why did he let Naruto talk him into this? When has anything Naruto said, beginning with the words, "I have an idea!" ever brought about anything less than a disaster? Never. That's when...

So, here he was... out at the training grounds... looking up at the sky. "Naruto... you are going to die."

Naruto, though Gaara couldn't see him, was grinning in that "I'm-Sorry-I-Screwed-Up" way of his, "Uh sorry, Gaara, I'll go get one of the Hyuuga's to help. Be back soon!" and the bastard ran off, leaving Gaara lying in the dirt, watching the sky.

The young Kazekage sighed as he stared at the sky. This was all Naruto's fault...

They had been training like they usually did when he was in the village and not busy with something or another. Gaara had just vanished one of Naruto's clones when Naruto had said the dreaded words."Hey! I have an idea!" He wasn't even going to think about it anymore... wouldn't help him any now.

It was several more minutes before Naruto returned with the Hyuuga girl in tow. "Gaara! I found Hinata-chan! She can do it!"

The dark haired girl was playing with her fingers and looking at the ground. He blinked, fighting down the heat that he felt on his face. Why did he have to get her?

"Um... Hello, G-Gaara...kun," she said hesitantly, looking down at him, a splash of pink on her cheeks.

Gaara blinked and looked back up at her, "Hinata..." he paused for a moment as she had, "Chan."

"H-how--?" she took in his... tied up state. Gaara glared at Naruto.

Said glared at ninja went on to explain his blunder, "We uh were training and I wanted to try out a new summoning scroll I made... I think I used a few too many locks.. maybe too much chain, too..." he took a long look at Gaara.

Gaara was lying on his back, arms pinned to his side, legs pinned together, by many coils of chain. And what locked the chains in place? Over a dozen padlocks, attached to various links in the chain, none of which Naruto knew where the key for was. To put it simply he couldn't move. "I'm going to kill you Naruto..."

Naruto blinked and smiled nervously, "Well, uh, I'll let Hinata-chan take care of you now. I'll go, uh, see if Tsuande has a mission for me.. Yeah," And he ran off, obviously scared of what Gaara would do when he was free.

Hinata let out a small giggle, but then blushed and looked down for a minute. Gaara was staring after the dust trail Naruto left. After a long minute, he turned to face her, "...Think you can get all the locks off in time for me to catch him?"

"U-um, I can try..." she said softly before activating her bloodline and pulling out a few different piece of wire she had grabbed when Naruto said there was some locks that needed opening. She began at one that was around his shoulder.

Gaara stared at the sky as she worked to free him. This day was not going well at all.

After 30 minutes, about a third of the padlocks had been dismantled. Which, on average, left them another hour to go.

Gaara had taken to watching Hinata as she worked. She wasn't blushing or acting nervous, as she wasn't paying too much attention to him while she worked. She had a look of utter concentration on her face as she began working on the next lock, this one just below his collar bone. She had to move closer to be able to get the pins in, because of the weird angle the key hole was facing, so her face was only a few inches from his.

Gaara closed his eyes so he wouldn't be caught staring. He tried to concentrated on the sounds of her picking the lock, which was hard as the sound of her breathing was louder, at least to him.

The red head could feel her breath on his face when she exhaled, so that added to his lack of concentration on the picking noise. His mind drifted back to when she had kissed him on the cheek at the training grounds that evening at sunset. Then to when he had kissed her at the waterfall. Both times had been.. strange, but nice. He didn't have much experience in kissing, or in even.. caring for anyone. He was learning, but this was different than the friendship he felt for Naruto, or the caring he had for his brother and sister... He didn't want to kiss them.

From what he had gathered about kissing from listening to other people talk, it was something people did when they liked each other more than friends, and differently than family. He assumed that was what the weird feeling he got around Hinata was. She was his friend, kinda, but friends didn't kiss. So was she, more than a friend?

_**'You're thinking again. I thought I told you to stop doing that?'**_

'_Shut up...'_ he thought weakly, still confused, but no longer thinking so much.

Gaara blinked his eyes open when he heard the lock click open. He wished he hadn't. She was smiling to herself as she pulled the padlock away from the chain and tossed it in to a pile. He couldn't move again.. And just when he was getting some movement back too...

He closed his eyes again, taking slow, deep breaths. The Shukaku was making fun of him, and he listened to him instead of the sounds Hinata was making.

Hinata began to pick up speed, as she was now more used to the layout of the locks, which ws made easier as they were all the same kind of lock. It only took her about forty minutes to do the rest of them.

Finally, she tossed the last lock to the side and looked down at Gaara, who had his eyes closed. It was obvious he wasn't asleep, as he was very tense. She looked at the chain and searched for where one ended. "G-Gaara-kun, is the chain looser now? All the l-locks are gone."

The teen opened his eyes and tried pulling at his restraints. They weren't loose enough to just fall off, but he could move his arms a little. "I can move my arms slightly," he informed her, "If you would help me sit up?" he asked, and she moved around him so she could push him into a sitting position, though not a comfortable one.

"I found the en-end to one," She told him as she began to unwrap it, pulling at different lenghs. After another few minutes of their combined efforts, Gaara managed to slide his arms out of the upper chains.

"Almost there," the dark haired girl smiled slightly at him.

After another minute, he, with Hinata's help, managed to stand up, and from there, the chains dropped from him. He kicked the remaining chains away from him and turned to thank Hinata for her help.

"Tha--" was all he got out when something slammed into him, pushing him into Hinata, almost knocking her over. "Hey!" He yelled at the blond haired blur zooming by followed closely by another, bigger blond blur, "NARUTO GIVE ME BACK MY SAKE!!" the Hokage yelled as she chased the thief.

"NOT UNTIL YOU GIVE ME A MISSION!" He yelled back.

Gaara, not yet noticing his arms around Hinata, or the lovely shade of red on her face, yelled as well, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU NOW, NARUTO!" and, having made up his mind about something, turned his head towards Hinata. He blushed a little at how close they were, but he went through with his plan. Okay, Shukaku's plan...

"Hinata chan," he began more confidently than he felt, "Would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?"

Hinata turned redder and stuttered out, "U-U-Um.. Uh, I uh,... Y-yeah, I mean, su-sure..."

As soon as he had a positive response, he let out the breath he'd been holding and gave her a small smile. "Ramen stand at noon?" He said, actually feeling confident this time. She nodded, bright red now.

He looked down at her for a moment before leaning down and kissing her cheek, then he said, "Til then," He reluctantly took a step back, arms dropping to his sides, and then he was off, chasing after Naruto. Though really, Maybe it was a good thing the blond idiot had used excessive chain. And, at least the scroll worked. Maybe he wouldn't have to kill him, after all...

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**lalala**

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**A/N: Yes yes, been months lol. Once again, I blame my love. Though, I seem to finish each chapter while talking to him, so maybe is his fault I finished... Either way.**

**Hope you like the newest installment. And just to clear it up, and I'll add this to the chapter mentioned. Chapter two: Say Ahh, wasn't after the first chapter, it could be, buuut.. I might move it to chapter one later. All of these, mostly, can either be read as one shots or as separate installments to one story.**

**Thanks all for the reviews. Sorry again for taking so long. Is currently almost 4 am as I'm writing this A/N. and last chapter was finished at like, 2 am lol**

**Btw, this is also a birthday present to myself. That's right. Happy birthday to me I'm 17 today! tah tah!**


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